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Dialects of the Punjab


Greater Panjabi is the series of dialects spoken in the region of Punjab in India and Pakistan. A distinction is usually made between Punjabi in the east and the diverse group of "Lahnda" in the west. The literary languages that have developed on the basis of dialects of this area are Punjabi in eastern and central Punjab, Saraiki in the southwest, Hindko in the northwest, and Pothwari in the north. The varieties of "Greater Punjabi" have a number of characteristics in common, for example the preservation of the Prakrit double consonants in stressed syllables. Nevertheless, there is disagreement on whether they form part of a single language group, with some proposed classifications placing them all within the Northwestern zone of Indo-Aryan, while others reserving this only for the western varieties, and assigning the eastern ones to the Central zone alongside Hindi.


Majhi is Punjabi's prestige dialect because it is standard of written Punjabi. It is spoken in the heart of Punjab in historical region of Majha which spans the Lahore, Sheikhupura, Kasur, Okara, Nankana Sahib, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Wazirabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Gujrat, Jhelum, Pakpattan, Vehari, Khanewal, Sahiwal, Hafizabad, Mandi Bahauddin and Chiniot districts of Pakistan's Punjab Province along with some major cities.


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